Hex is a deceptively simple but surprisingly strategic game for two players. It’s easy to learn and quick to play, but be prepared for multiple plays as you dive into the intricacies of the game.
Preparation
You need a Hex board, which you can download and print here and plenty of counters in two colours. (If you want to match the downloaded board, you’ll need blue and red counters). Officially you should have 61 counters of each colour. But in practice, most of the time you’ll need far fewer.
Aim
Each player is trying to create a line of their own colour counters from one side of the board to the one opposite. Each player must link up sides of their own colour.
How to play
Players alternate in placing counters on the board. Each counter must go in an empty hexagon, but there are no other placement rules.
Variations
The first player has an advantage. There are two variations you can play to combat this.
- The first player is not allowed to place a counter in the central hex on their first turn.
- The second player may swap their counter with the one the first player placed instead of placing a new counter, on their first turn only.
If you want to test out the game online before you download and make your own set, you can do so here. This is a great AI to play against with three levels of difficulty and the optional swap rule to select.
Let me know how you get on with the Hex game!